The Legend of the Thunderbird In Bismarck -Mandan

As you go by the Lewis and Clark Riverboat, there's an interesting statue of a bird that may or may not have existed.

The Thunderbird, I'm told, is a creature that is known throughout Native American mythology as Wakinyan Tanka or Great Thunderbird. According to the Epoch Times, the Sioux Nation believed that they were not birds but celestial beings that lived in the Black Hills. The Yaqui Tribe has a different perspective. They believe that a giant bird lived in the hills of Otam Kawi and would periodically fly out and carry away men, women and children for food. Kinda sounds like a myth to me.

Then this happened ... in 1977, in a town called Lawndale, Illinois, 2 giant birds swooped in and carried one of three boys 35 feet off the ground while he was kicking and screaming. The incident was reported to the police and was a subject of the Discovery Channel documentary "Into the Unknown".

There were also spottings of an airplane size bird in Alaska, with a 14-foot wingspan.

I enjoy the paranormal because I believe this world is too big for things like that to not exist.

As far as the Thunderbird, I guess the jury is still out. Would make a great campfire story though!